The Wildlife Trusts has criticised government proposals to toughen up on developers’ environmental records.
A government consultation over how developers can more actively protect nature closed last week.
The new approach, led by environment secretary Michael Gove, comes as the real estate industry falls under increasing pressure to demonstrate its eco-credibility.
The government’s proposals would require developers to deliver a “biodiversity net gain” when planning and building new housing or commercial developments.
The proposed rules would involve developers in assessing the type of habitat on a site and its condition before submitting their plans. They would then need to demonstrate how they would improve biodiversity, such as through the creation of green corridors or by planting more trees.
But Sue Young, head of land use planning and ecological networks at the Wildlife Trusts, said there was “a huge challenge ahead” and the proposals were too narrow.
“Thousands of new houses are to be built, yet we need to restore the natural world. We are calling on developers to build beautiful, nature-friendly communities in the right places, creating and restoring more wild places than are destroyed or damaged by building.”
She added the charity was particularly concerned that the government’s “net gain” approach did not appear to apply across the board. “We are very disappointed there are no signs that the net gain approach will apply to major infrastructure projects that are extremely damaging to our natural heritage. We are calling on government to make a commitment to rectify this – so that every time a new road or large development such as HS2 is built, the same principles should apply.”
The Wildlife Trusts wants developers to address three key points:
- Avoid damaging wild places by locating new buildings in the least harmful place – they must not simply pay a tariff giving them a licence to destroy
- Mitigate any damage that they cause and compensate if they cannot
- Be legally required to deliver ambitious, measurable gains for wildlife which are 20% above such compensation; these gains must be secured and managed in perpetuity.
The consultation builds on the experiences of local authorities and developers that have already adopted net gain approaches.
These include Berkeley Group, which has committed to creating a net biodiversity gain on all of its development sites. The developer is working with the London Wildlife Trust to build Kidbrooke Village in east London – a 4,800-home village development that contains 20ha of parkland.
A number of high-profile developers have also partnered with eco-charity Wild West End. They include Shaftesbury, which has pledged to enhance its estate using initiatives such as green walls and green roofs where feasible, and the Crown Estate, which has created up to 3,000 sq m of green space across its London estate since 2013.
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